This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Shanghai, we saw a big time matchup in the light heavyweight division. China’s top up and comer Mingyang Zhang (19-7) was looking to continue his incredible finishing streak as he took on Johnny Walker (22-9, 1 NC).
This fight completely felt like a showcase fight for Zhang. Zhang had won 12 fights in a row and all 12 fights had been won by first round finish. In fact, every win in his career came by first round finish and he had only lost when fights went beyond the first round. The fight on Saturday went beyond the first round and Johnny Walker made sure that the winless streak beyond the first round continued.
Zhang started well and it felt like Walker was getting wobbled several times throughout the first round. However, I was very impressed by the movement and distance control of Walker. He was staying patient and he was landing big leg kicks.
In the second round, you could tell that Zhang was slowing a bit and Walker really kept slamming home the leg kicks. Eventually, one crumbled Zhang and Walker followed up to get the finish which silenced the crowd at UFC Shanghai.
What’s next after UFC Shanghai?
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see Johnny Walker winning on Saturday. I don’t know if I was just buying into the hype of Zhang or whether I just didn’t believe in Johnny Walker at all. I think it was more of the latter as I just didn’t see Walker getting a main event win in 2025.
However, he proved me wrong and he snapped his two-fight losing streak. In the updated UFC rankings, Walker finds himself at 12th and I think there’s an opponent just behind him that makes sense in the rankings.
If I’m matchmaking, I would put Walker in there against Alonzo Menifield next. Menifield has won two fights in a row to get him back into the top fifteen and he’s currently ranked 14th. Yes, Johnny Walker got a big win on Saturday, but I think he needs one more before he takes on top ten competition again.
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